The novel is set in and around Long Street in Cape Town. It centres on a rivalry between two life-long friends, Primo Verona, a clairvoyant, and Pasquale Benvenuto, a chef. They are the sons of Jewish Holocaust survivors from Italy. Primo's wife, Beatrice, is also a childhood friend of the men, and to complicate matters, she was Pasquale's lover before she married Primo. Twenty years after the marriage, Pasquale is keen for Beatrice to leave Primo so that they can get back together. Primo is devastates by the betrayal and seeks to win back Beatrice with spells. The spells go awfully awry, destroying Pasquale's business.[1][2]
Reception
The Guardian, in a review of A Time of Angels, wrote "Schonstein's magical realism is dense with sensual imagery - taste, touch, smell, shimmering visions. At first it is confusing to be recalled so insistently to the good things of life at the same time as being continuously reminded of horror and war; it seems almost shocking that Schonstein can list the ingredients of bostrengo - a delicious cake - and then, almost in the same breath, recount a massacre of children and old men.
However, this uneasy mixture is the whole point of Schonstein's narrative."[3]
^ ab"A Time of Angels". Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus Media LLC. 1 October 2004. Retrieved 29 January 2017. An agreeable confection. Enjoy it for its glittering artifice, but don't look for depth.
^Falconer, Helen (18 October 2003). "Books: Cape Fear". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
^"A Time of Angels". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz LLC. 25 October 2004. Retrieved 29 January 2017. While many sweet details of community life and a meticulous, respectful attention to the skills of all trades brighten the novel, the themes and language are familiar; the conclusion brings together many elements of the characters' fates but fails to imbue them with meaning.
